First, what is with the name calling and insinuation? Unable to carry a conversation without it?

How am i not realistic? I'm not a programmer and i would guess a lot of people who use it are not either. How hard is it to load an app and install it? I guess in your locked in apple world you are not able to "sideload" apps?

It is a way to get a "clean" version of android (no google apps even). I take it you cant just flash your ipad to whatever version you want? Wonder what will happen when Apple stops supporting the Ipad (1/2/3)? I will just flash my tab when it is time....

PS. while cyanogenmod does sell devices now, but they make software for a lot of android devices (there is no relationship between samsung and cynaogenmod for example.).

Shill much?

"Basically, my entire use case was to be an e-reader. The quality of the tablets was so bad that I couldn't even do that well."

Ever consider buying what you want to use the device for? Perhaps trying the product at the store before paying for it? I have some apple products (not many) mostly use Mint Linux and my Android tablet. I also own a Nook (epub) and Kindle (mobi) and use the device for what it is best at.
If i feel like browsing the net i obviously don't grab the nook. Flip side, if i plan on reading for an hour or more i grab the nook/kindle (backlit screens SUCK for long term reading).

" A battery life of a few hours at most."

Going to have to call BS here. I use my tab-2 on the train (3+ hours reading the news and listening to music via blutooth) and leave it on standby connected to a wifi to grab my mail. After running all day i usually have around 80% capacity left. The tab was bought about 2 years ago and still holds a charge just fine.

Since its not "apple locked" it runs the latest version of android via cyanogenmod.com

" Obsolescence on Android is far worse than it is on iOS"

Android has people like cyanogenmod.com what does Apple customers have????
To prevent my android tablet from falling out of date I just flashed it wyt cyanogenmod and now it has the latest version of Andoid on it (and it runs fine).

Go ask those macpro / macmini users who were arbitrarily cut off from Mavericks if they are happy.

According to Apple's website 2GB is the minimum for Maverics: http://support.apple.com/kb/ht...

They also say a 2009 or later mini, does the small difference in processing powre really make a difference then?

It is funny how words like "ancient" are thrown around in discussions like this.

Here's an interesting point similar to what someone posted down below.
In my basement I have a SUN X4500 Storage server (circa 2007) and it is currently running Solaris 11.1 without issues. The system has two "ancient" AMD Opteron's but since little has changed in terms of processor instruction sets they run fine.
So this is a system from 2007 running an OS released in 2011 and supported until 2024. Heck, I might upgrade to 11.2 when it is released in the next month or so.

Artificially preventing you from upgrading in this case seems more like a means to sell hardware then to "protect the user experience".

He has a 2008 mac mini, lets assume the mid 2007 model with a T7200 Intel Core 2 Duo whereas the 2009 mini uses 2.53 GHz (P8700) Intel Core 2 Duo

Go to any benchmark sites and do a comparison of those processors, they are pretty close yet one supports Mavericks, the other tops out at lion?

You know a lot of times those limits are artificial right? People have figured out how to trick mavericks into installing on "unapproved" systems.

Sure, how?

Looks like it only has a "lightning" interface: http://support.apple.com/kb/sp...

i know, you use your USB 2 Lighening dongle?

So by that token the car manufactures can say they are following a standard (the one they made) just like apple did with their dock connector?

Granted (and you probably already assumed this) i dont have an iphone but several coworkers do. I often hear then trying to borrow other peoples chargers/cables . Care to enlighten me as to why they cant just use the standard "micro-usb" cords on their desks that they use to charge our work-issued phones? I can charge my non-apple phone on the same cord i use for my BB without issues.

My guess is they forgot their $21 "adapter"
http://store.apple.com/ca/prod...

Your concerns are valid.
I dont drive often and so it is not much of a pain to use it and put it away when i do. Flip side, the days of them being > $300 and worth stealing are long gone.

Any device can charge by USB now so your griping looks like lunacy.

So please take your "standard" USB on one and and mini or micro on the other and charge any apple product with it.

orginal IPOD -firewire and dock connector
Next gen ipod - USB and dock connector
Now what is it, usb on one end and "lightening" on the other?

"breaking the car manufactures monopoly on in-car mapping..."

Will this be similar to how apple "broke the monopoly on ebooks" http://online.wsj.com/news/art...
Or how they "Broke the monopoly on hiring". http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/...

Ever heard of getting a third party GPS for like $99 at costco with lifetime maps? When it gets old i just throw it out and get a newer/faster/whatever one.
Far cheaper then getting the fancy in-dash model and not being able to replace it.

"One thing I really wish would happen would be to have the car industry be also mandated to provide third-party access to all of the screens"

Really, you think that is fair? Would it work the other way as in i think apple should be mandated to provide third party access to their very lucrative add-on market (cords, chargers, etc).
Why should the auto industry be "forced" to open up to a company which is known for vendor lockin?

The lobbyists?

Oh wait, the people? They don't have a lobby group and so don't matter that much.

Only if the company is overseas where the cash hoard is. If apple takes the money back to the US (repatriation) they have to pay taxes on it.

They have tried to have special "one time only" repatriation adjustments to taxes in the past without luck.

Shouldn't the government do everything in its power to withhold services for companies who refuses to pay for them? Apple sure likes the US courts time....

"rich" people don't have income.... They do fancy things like take out loans against their stock options and a loan is debt, not income.